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Wednesday, June 7, 2017

Loving Your Enemies

Have you ever met someone you just couldn’t stand? The moment they walk into the
room, your smile fades, your heart sinks, and the day suddenly becomes
gloomier. Sometimes, even the sound of their voice can make your stomach churn.
Maybe it’s their personality. Maybe they have radically different views than
you. Maybe you don’t even have a legitimate reason to dislike them, or, maybe you have a very good reason. Jonah had several reasons to hate the Ninevites. Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian nation and the Assyrians were infamous for two
things: their skill in battle and their cruelty in dealing with defeated
nations. Common were their barbaric practices of dismembering, skinning, or
burning their captives alive. Often displayed atop the walls of Nineveh were
the decapitated heads of conquered kings and princes. Besides all this, the Assyrians were Gentiles who worshipped numerous false idols, many of which required abominable sacrificial rites. Israel and Assyria were diametrically opposed. Thus, we can understand why Jonah
was so averse to delivering God’s message to them.

“What? Preach to
Nineveh, to those Assyrians?! No! Let them die in their sins. Why
should God save them?”

Yet, God had commanded him to preach to the Ninevites. The
most loving thing we can do for anyone is to tell of their impending
everlasting damnation and the salvation that can be found in Christ. That is
love, and that was what the Lord asked Jonah to do: love his enemies.

But why? Why would God ask him to do that? After all, the
Assyrians were Gentiles; God hadn’t promised to save them.

Jonah himself answers that question in Jonah 4:2b, “…for I knew that thou art a gracious God,
and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the
evil.”

Because God is merciful. That’s the only reason
any of us are saved. If God was gracious enough to save the murderous
Ninevites, surely we can lovingly extend the message of salvation to even the
worst of our enemies.

"But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you."

- Matthew 5:44

Fun fact: I'm part Assyrian. Praise God his salvation extends to everyone, even to Assyrians!

2 comments:

That's so true - it's understandable why Jonah didn't want to go! This is all convicting. I think often we expect God's commands to be something we want to do, or something fun or heroic. But your conclusion here reminds me of Romans 5:8. Jesus died for us while we were His enemies. Thanks for sharing, Gloria, I'm enjoying this series! :)

Amen, Romans 5:8 is an excellent cross-reference! To think that Christ would sacrifice His life for those who hated Him is an astounding and humbling thought. I'm ashamed to say I don't know if I'd be able to do the same for my enemies.

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